Today in History
September 13
1515 King Francis of France defeats the Swiss army under Cardinal Matthias Schiner at Marignano, northern Italy.
1549 Pope Paul III closes the first session of the Council of Bologna.
1564 On the verge of attacking Pedro Menendez's Spanish settlement at San Agostin, Florida, Jean Ribault's French fleet is scattered by a devastating storm.
1759 British troops defeat the French on the plains of Abraham, in Quebec.
1774 Tugot, the new controller of finances, urges the king of France to restore the free circulation of grain in the kingdom.
1782 The British fortress at Gibraltar comes under attack by French and Spanish forces.
1788 The Constitutional Convention authorizes the first federal election resolving that electors in all the states will be appointed on January 7, 1789.
1789 Guardsmen in Orleans, France, open fire on rioters trying to loot bakeries, killing 90.
1846 General Winfield Scott takes Chapultepec, removing the last obstacle to U.S. troops moving on Mexico City.
1862 Union troops in Frederick, Maryland, discover General Robert E. Lee's attack plans for the invasion of Maryland wrapped around a pack of cigars. They give the plans to General George B. McClellan who does nothing with them for the next 14 hours.
1863 The Loudoun County Rangers route a company of Confederate cavalry at Catoctin Mountain in Virginia.
1905 U.S. warships head to Nicaragua on behalf of American William Albers, who was accused of evading tobacco taxes.
1918 U.S. and French forces take St. Mihiel, France in America's first action as a standing army.
1945 Iran demands the withdrawal of Allied forces.
1951 In Korea, U.S. Army troops begin their assault in Heartbreak Ridge. The month-long struggle will cost 3,700 casualties.
1961 An unmanned Mercury capsule is orbited and recovered by NASA in a test.
1976 The United States announces it will veto Vietnam's UN bid.

Born on September 13
1847 Milton Hershey, founder of the famous candy company.
1851 Walter Reed, U.S. Army doctor, discovered a cure for yellow fever.
1860 John J. Pershing, "Black Jack" who led the campaign against Pancho Villa in Mexico and Commanded the American Expeditionary Force in France during World War I.
1863 Franz von Hipper, German naval commander at the Battle of Jutland in World War I.
1886 Alain Locke, writer and first African-American Rhodes scholar.
1894 J.B. Priestley, British novelist and playwright.
1903 Claudette Colbert, actress who won an Oscar for It Happened One Night.
1911 Bill Monroe, musician, the Father of Bluegrass.
1911 Roald Dahl, writer, best known for his children's books such as James and the Giant Peach.

1860 - In Fort Worth, abolitionist Methodist minister Anthony Bewley was lynched after being returned to Texas by a posse.

1883 - Free-grass cattle raisers began cutting the fences of Mabel Doss Day's ranch. Her ranch was the first fully fenced large ranch in Texas. Day lobbied in Austin for laws concerning fence cutting and in 1884 a law was passed.

1935 - Aviator Howard Hughes, Jr., of Houston, set a new land-speed record of 352 mph with his H-1 airplane (Winged Bullet).

2003 - In Oakland, CA, Frank Francisco (Texas Rangers), a relief pitcher, threw a chair into the right field box seats. Two spectators were hit in the head. The game was delayed for 19 minutes. The Athletics won the game 7-6 in the 10th inning.